


The Goddess of Flames

by Evietan



Category: K (Anime)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, First Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-23 04:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9640112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evietan/pseuds/Evietan
Summary: Minoru gets the scare of his life when a bunch of thugs with superpowers attack him, but thankfully he is saved by a mysterious girl that he sets out to find again.Written for K Rarepair Week 2017.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Another thing for rarepair week, this time for the prompts 'Colours/Powers' since they're rather close together. This is a ship I've been thinking about a lot, so I hope I can get someone else to ship it with me~

It had started as a completely normal day. Getting up early had sucked, school was as boring as ever, but at least he’d had some fun playing catch with his friends in the break and his mother’s packed lunch had been tasty as always. Even in hindsight, there was absolutely nothing that could’ve ticked him off to the fact that he’d meet a goddess today.

Minoru had just said goodbye to the last of his friends and rounded the corner to the quiet street that would lead him home when he saw something flash from the corner of his eyes. He really had no way of knowing what it was, but somehow the sickening green of it made him duck on instinct. As he saw a lightning bolt hit the garden fence next to him, he quietly thanked his reflexes and started running. Whatever this was, it was clearly dangerous and he couldn’t afford to be hit by it. That was priority number one, his brain insisted, even though he desperately wanted to turn around and see where it had come from and maybe find out why it was targeted at him in the first place.

Another bolt of lightning missed him by only a few inches and he sped up, fear now seriously creeping up from his stomach and making his throat tight. Someone or something was aiming for him specifically. And judging by the smoke coming from the spot the last shot had hit the street, he might not even survive if he couldn’t outrun it.

His breath was already coming short, but he kept sprinting as fast as he could. Just two more turns and he was home and could alert his mom to what was going on. That was his best shot. Focused as he was, Minoru noticed too late that someone jumped out from the side alley and didn’t raise his arm soon enough to completely block the baseball bat swung at him. It connected with the back of his head with a dull thud and sharp pain spread through his entire body.

He had to have blacked out for a moment, because the next thing he knew, he was already lying on the ground and being dragged into the alley. His vision was swimming, but he could see the one who hit him wore a weird kind of mask, and so did the other two he was talking to.

“Hey man, be a bit more careful next time! Hostages are only useful if they’re alive. We wanna distract the Reds, not get them dead set on revenge again.”

Again…? Who were these ‘Reds’ and why where these people thinking he was important to them? He didn’t know anyone who’d ever been on a revenge quest that wasn’t a fictional character, and the only person he knew who died was his great-grandmother but she’d been like, really old, and died in her sleep…

Minoru was barely aware that his mind had start drifting again as he heard the sound of a car being unlocked and he figured he’d be taken away now, to some evil lair or something, but the earlier panic had yet to come back through the thick walls of fog around his brain.

Then suddenly the whole world was doused in red. Flames were licking at the walls beside him and his three kidnappers were screaming in agony, desperately trying to escape but being engulfed by the flames anyways until they fell to the ground, dead or unconscious he couldn’t tell. It was how he’d always pictured hell to be.

Yet, strangely, he didn’t feel a single ounce of fear. Maybe it was the dull memory that he’d seen a weaker version of these flames not long ago, used by his brother, but he immediately relaxed, knowing they were there to protect him.

Quiet footsteps passed by him, and the flames parted for what Minoru could only assume to be the goddess of fire. Beautiful and regal, with a dress that vaguely looked like it was made of fire too and actual fire wings, she stepped in front of him and addressed the men lying on the ground in front of her.

“Tell your King if he attempts this again, the outcome won’t be this mild. Homra isn’t known for their mercy, and I have no intention of changing that.” Her voice was quiet, but even Minoru could feel a chill running down his spine from the threat, there was no doubt she was absolutely serious.

She turned around, and Minoru only got a glimpse of the destructive fire in her eyes before her expression softened and she knelt down in front of him, stretching out a hand to gently touch his face. It was colder than Minoru had expected and his brain was so hung up on the disparity between her cold hand and the warmth in her gaze, that it took him a while to realize she’d asked him if he was alright.

“Sure,” he blurted out, trying to get up, but abruptly regretting that decision as the world began to spin and he ungraciously fell back on his butt. Okay, maybe he wasn’t alright. The guy had hit him pretty hard after all, so he could easily have a concussion.

The goddess didn’t seem to be bothered by his obvious lie, she simply slid one of his arms over her shoulders and helped him up. It was only then that he noticed she was only about as tall as he was and had a child’s face as well. Maybe she actually was around his age…? She seemed way too amazing for that. None of his classmates had that kind of grace – or that kind of power, for that matter.

Oblivious to his fascination, she simply started walking, and Minoru had to focus all his concentration on keeping up with her and not falling over his own feet.

Before he knew it, they stood in front of his house and she rang the doorbell. Now that the flames were gone, she seemed a little less like a goddess and more like a human, though she still had that otherworldly aura around her.

His mother opened the door and immediately took him into her arms, fussing over him and asking all sorts of questions he could barely keep up with, much less answer. His consciousness started fading again as the safety of his mother’s arms lulled him to sleep, but then he heard quiet footsteps walking away and jerked awake again.

“Wait,” he yelled panicked, “who are you? What’s your name? How…? Why…?” Fuzzy stars were already creeping at the edge of his vison, but he forced himself to stay awake until he heard some sort of answer.

The mysterious girl turned around, facing him again as she said, quiet and sure, just like before: “Anna.”

 

* * *

 

Next thing he knew, Minoru woke up in a hospital bed, unsure if all of that had actually happened or he dreamt up half of it while he was delirious. The girl existed though, he was absolutely sure about that, the memory of her way too clear to be a result of his imagination. His mother confirmed it too, though she was just as clueless as to who she was or where she went as Minoru, her focus had understandably been more on her injured son then on the girl who’d brought him home.

So, as soon as he was released from the hospital, Minoru set out to find her. He didn’t have much to go off of, but he vaguely remembered her mentioning ‘Homra’ and that was a group plenty of his classmates and people on the internet had heard rumours about. It was difficult to piece together what was the truth and what people had just made up, but apparently, it was some sort of street gang with special powers, united under some crazy strong monster who might or might not be dead by now. Well, his kidnappers had said something about revenge…

Most importantly though, the internet gave him a location: Bar Homra in Shizume. He could go look for Anna there, and thank her for saving him. Maybe even ask if she knew why he was attacked if he mustered up the courage for that. It wasn’t a given, seeing how stunned he’d been when he saw her for the first time, and Homra seemed to be full of scary people.

And possibly his brother, too. That wouldn’t be scary, but awkward. If his brother was actually some sort of gang member and didn’t just dress like one, it wasn’t something Minoru wanted to talk about with him, especially not in front of other gang members or Anna, for that matter. But the signs were impossible to ignore. Misaki had used the same powers as Anna. There were rumours about Homra’s vanguard ‘Yatagarasu’ all over the internet. And it would explain why he was attacked – Anna had seen it as an attack against Homra after all. Minoru couldn’t be sure though, and he didn’t know enough about Homra to decide whether it would be cool or disappointing if Misaki actually was a member.

There was no other choice than to go and find out. So, one afternoon after school, he gathered up his resolve and took a train to Shizume. He’d looked up Bar Homra what felt like a million times this past week, so he found it without a problem. His heart was beating like crazy in his chest, and he decided to peek through a window first before going in. Who knew what was going on in there? Minoru knew quite a few things he didn’t want to walk in on that could be happening in a bar that served as a gang’s base.

It turned out to be a good decision, because the first thing he saw was his brother, animatedly talking to the barkeeper. So he really was a member…

Anna wasn’t there, in fact, besides his brother and the barkeeper, there was only one other person inside. A guy who looked like a foreigner was sitting on a couch, not really doing anything or participating in the conversation. Just as it seemed like Misaki was about to leave, Minoru locked eyes with the foreigner and jolted away from the window, sprinting behind the next vending machine to hide himself. He barely made it in time to hear the bell as the door was opened and his brother came out, yelling “See you tomorrow then, Kusanagi-san,” before he jumped on his skateboard and drove away, thankfully not in the direction Minoru was hiding.

Now was the time to go in, he knew that. The bar would open officially soon, and it would only get harder to go I then. Plus, the foreigner had already seen him, so it would seem weird if he took too long to come back. Gulping, he abandoned his hiding place and strode towards the bar. Sure, it was a bit scary, but he really wanted to see Anna again, and this was the only hint he had.

A deep breath, and he pushed the door to the bar open and walked inside. The establishment had a nice, homey atmosphere, but Minoru couldn’t help but be intimidated anyway. The alcohol on display and elegant décor practically screamed ‘adults only’ to him, the guy on the couch fixated him with a gaze he couldn’t quite place, and the bartender seemed freakishly tall now that Minoru stood in front of him.

“We’re not open yet,” the bartender informed him, “and you look a bit young to be here for a drink anyway. Are you lost?” At least he seemed friendly, that made it easier to talk.

“Do you, by any chance, know a girl named Anna?” Now that gave him two pairs of raised eyebrows, and he knew he was at the right place. Excitement spread through his entire body at the thought that he was probably really close to finding her. These people just needed to tell him.

“Well, let’s say I do, who wants to know and why?”

Aw man… He didn’t want to answer that… Especially the ‘who’ part. That would just make things awkward. But he had a feeling if he didn’t answer, this bartender guy would just throw him out. “I’m here because I want to thank her, my name’s Minoru.” It dawned on him too late that he could have just lied, but then maybe Anna would say she didn’t know anyone with that name… Wait, did she even know his name? She knew where he lived, so it wasn’t impossible but he’d never told her.

“Ah, so you’re Yata-chan’s brother then? You just missed him.” _Aw, dammit…_

“He knows,” the foreign guy suddenly spoke up – in perfect Japanese – startling the crap out of Minoru, “he was looking through the window.” What an asshole. Couldn’t he have kept that to himself? Minoru threw him an angry look, but the snitch didn’t seem to care. In fact, he looked a little smug. Yeah, Minoru definitely didn’t like the guy.

“That so?” Thankfully the bartender didn’t pry any further. Him, Minoru thought he might actually end up liking if he got to know him better. “Eric, Anna’s upstairs, go and get her.”

Eric moved without comment, leaving Minoru to wonder if it meant the bartender was Kusanagi-san if he was apparently called by his first name. And then he stocked. ‘Anna’s upstairs’?! She was here? He was gonna meet her, right now? He wasn’t prepared!

“Come here,” Kusanagi-san(?) beckoned tapping lightly on the bar to get him to sit down, “you want a juice or something?”

Minoru walked on autopilot, his brain not quite caught up with reality yet. “I don’t have any money,” he answered belatedly, as it was still in the back of his mind that he needed all his money for the train ride, and he didn’t know whether he should say yes or no, both somehow seemed rude to him.

He got a glass anyway, filled with pineapple juice, his brother’s favourite. This guy was assuming too much.

“Well, you spent a week in the hospital thanks to us, I think I can afford giving you a juice on the house,” Kusanagi(?) said lightly, but then his voice turned more serious. “Honestly, I’d tell you to stay away from here, because it’s dangerous, but you already got hurt and yet here you are.” He sighed dramatically, as if he told people not to do dangerous things on a day-to-day basis and nobody ever listened to him. “It’s probably pointless.”

If Minoru had thought of an answer, it didn’t matter, because he heard soft footsteps on the stairs and his mind was wiped clean. Anna walked down the stairs with the grace of a ballet dancer, and Minoru could have sworn he saw sparks of flames dance around her, illuminating her face and giving her an otherworldly glow.

His throat suddenly felt dry and he had to swallow repeatedly, eyes glued to Anna as she walked over to him at a measured pace and slid onto the barstool beside him like it was the most normal thing in the world. She didn’t seem surprised in the least to see him.

“Minoru,” she greeted, taking a glass filled with some red liquid from the bartender. “Thank you, Izumo.” She smiled, and Izumo took that as his cue to leave them alone, though he didn’t leave the room, preparing things to open the bar. Eric was back too, in the same position on the same couch, as if he’d never moved at all. Minoru had hoped they’d leave them alone, but he guessed this was fair enough. He got to see Anna, that was all he really wanted. “What brings you here?”

Oh, right. He couldn’t just sit there and stare at her – though somehow that didn’t seem like such a bad pastime to him – he had to actually make conversation. And he did have a reason for coming, he should at least accomplish that.

“I- um, I wanted to say… Thank you for saving me!” He couldn’t really bow in his current position, but Minoru did his best to lower his head as far as he could. Anna needed to know how grateful he was for her interference. It was the first time he’d ever been afraid for his life, yet all unpleasant memories were completely overshadowed by her red, burning away Minoru’s fear along with his kidnappers, leaving nothing but pure awe in the wake of her powers.

Anna remained quiet for a while before she simply answered “You’re welcome.” There was a soft smile on her lips though when Minoru looked up again, so it couldn’t have been the entirely wrong thing to say.

“Oh, and,“ he dug into his school backpack, fishing out a box of his favourite chocolates that the store clerk had put a ribbon – red, of course, no other colour would fit her – on for him, “this is for you. I know it’s not much and I don’t know what you like, but I thought everyone likes chocolate, so… yeah.” He held the box out for her.

“Thank you.” Anna accepted the present, smiling wider than before, and… was that a blush on her cheeks? It wasn’t very pronounced, so he couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like it at least.

Minoru’s heart began beating faster at the sight and he couldn’t help but smile back at her.

There was one last thing he wanted to say though. “That fire thing you did… I have absolutely no idea how you did it, but it was by far the coolest thing I’ve ever seen! Like, fire should be scary, but all I could think was that it looked beautiful and that it was there to protect me!”

Anna’s gaze became warm at that, but there was also something else to it, a depth he couldn’t quite grasp. “Yes, I like my Red as well.” For a moment, it seemed like there was something else she wanted to say, but then she shook her head. “Is there anything cool that you can do?” she asked instead.

Him? Nothing of that calibre, definitely. But he had done quite a few ridiculous and difficult things on dares, so he lapsed into a tale of how he’d climbed out of a third-floor window of his school once when he’d been dared to stay and had been locked in the classroom. At first, he’d wondered if she’d only asked to be polite or to stir the conversation away from her powers, but she seemed genuinely amused, even if she didn’t laugh even once.

Somehow, they kept talking after that. The bar was eventually opened and they moved to one of the couches and Anna eventually opened her chocolates and tasted one, but those were the only markers that time passed. So Minoru was taken off-guard when the bartender came over in a quiet moment and asked Anna what she wanted for dinner and if Minoru was going to stay.

He looked at the clock on his PDA. 20:26. “Nooooooooo,” he exclaimed, dread settling in his stomach. It was way, way past time he should be home. And now that he thought of it, he probably smelled like alcohol and cigarettes after having spent the entire evening at a bar. “Shit,” he cursed under his breath, “mom is gonna kill me.”

But he didn’t want to leave. He’d had so much fun, but he couldn’t just keep dropping by now that he didn’t have a reason anymore… And his brother might be there too. Not that he cared as much now, Homra didn’t seem to be full of terrible people after all, but still. It would be weird. Not talking to Anna anymore seemed just as horrible though.

In a flash, he pulled out a pen and a piece of paper from his backpack and scribbled his phone number on it, handing it to Anna before he could lose confidence in his idea. “I really gotta go now, but if you ever wanna hang out again, just call. Or just text if you’re bored or something! See ya!”

Anna nodded and took the piece of paper with a serious expression. “Goodbye.” Her voice was as monotone as ever, but Minoru wasn’t at all discouraged by it, Anna would call if she wanted to, and after today, he was 99% sure she did.

Then he bolted out of the door, hoping a train would come fast so his mom wouldn’t be any angrier than she needed to be.

Just before the door fell shut behind him, he could hear Eric’s voice saying “At this rate, Yata’s brother is gonna get himself laid faster than he does,” followed by a loud crash.

A blush crept up his cheeks. He wasn’t trying to get laid! That was way, way out of his league. But… maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he could go somewhere with Anna, just the two of them, and then, just maybe, they could hold hands-

Minoru broke into a run, hoping it would hide why he was so flushed and breathing irregularly.


End file.
